tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86501912135117298502018-09-16T20:37:00.069-07:00Wolfgang WandersWolfgang Wandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06509599761663692831noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650191213511729850.post-15830300148513271282017-06-25T20:07:00.000-07:002017-06-25T20:20:29.941-07:00Canada<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S_UeMr5ZGKs/WU8DVE4bTYI/AAAAAAAAAFk/B_OeQsP27AgeUc-_CsR6t5UMWw3Z8K9lwCLcBGAs/s1600/canada1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S_UeMr5ZGKs/WU8DVE4bTYI/AAAAAAAAAFk/B_OeQsP27AgeUc-_CsR6t5UMWw3Z8K9lwCLcBGAs/s400/canada1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Canada is a massive country, and with that size comes great diversity. To sum it up, the east coast is natural, colourful and Atlantic. Quebec is a melting pot of culture, almost completely french but still retaining to historical Canadian vibes. Ontario goes all the way from country plains to the concrete city of Toronto. Then there is northern Canada, an arctic land vast and almost uninhabited. Western Canada is scarcely populated as well, maybe not compared to the rest of Canada but against the world it sure is. Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, are all flat and farm land. Their people can drink young and drive even earlier, over here in British Columbia we are all jealous of that.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;A couple towns away from Vancouver and the Pacific Ocean, Maple Ridge, BC is my home. 80,000 people and half of them drive a truck. The summers are hot and the other three seasons are rainy, we never get snow but, except for the summer, it is always freezing cold.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Being so close to a big city has its pros and cons. The pros are you can take a small trip and see where everything is happening. The beach is there, the restaurants, people, events, parties, everything is there. But that is also the down side, you have to take a small trip to see anything. Not much happens around here, nobody really does anything. Bad or good it is the truth. Then summer comes out and the warmth brings the people outside and together.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qYUco8ycckk/WVBnmP3Nx4I/AAAAAAAAAG0/J9BkMCE0DGUN2692tNjYpv6kK03ybs3GACLcBGAs/s1600/canada3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qYUco8ycckk/WVBnmP3Nx4I/AAAAAAAAAG0/J9BkMCE0DGUN2692tNjYpv6kK03ybs3GACLcBGAs/s320/canada3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;the greatest thing we have going for us is the landscape. Nature is right in our backyard, untamed and wild. If one day you decided to go walking north you would end up in the arctic 2,000 kilometers away before you hit civilization. However, you don't need to go that far to experience what we have.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Being close to these mountains means we have some of the best hiking trails in the world, Dog Mountain, "The Chief" you might have heard of them, and if you haven't you're missing out. I'v seen views off of the tops of mountains that would be fit for art galleries. spending a couple nights away from town camping in those woods is even better..</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Camping is everyone's favorite thing to do around here and it really shows. You can't walk a block without seeing a camper on someones property. A 15 minute ride will take you to the most beautiful lake, and with mountains towering over you, in a perfectly dense forest you can find a quiet place to sit around the camp fire and read or you can experience some danger.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The water is always filled with speed boats towing water-skiers and crazy people tubing. The cliffs look like they where built for jumping off of and impressing your friends, from the kid jump to the notorious "Running Man" everyone takes a plunge and resurfaces smiling. Nobody is in the woods to monitor your play, no police bring boats or even drive up that way and the rangers are scarce and always the nicest people. Families and teenage cliques alike all drive up to Alouette Lake and come back with great stories.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Alouette is not even the only playground that we are lucky enough to live next to. We have mud flats for 4x4ing, rivers for fishing, and secret lakes deep in the woods that friend groups never speak of. When summer comes, when warm weather comes, everybody is outside with a new energy that they love to express after the cold, dark, rainy months we had for so long beforehand.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Canada is so well known for its natural beauty, and for good reason. With such space there is bound to be a couple nice places. Along my journey I hope to see so much more. I'm sure my little town does not have the most awe inspiring views I will every see. When I do find that view I hope to share it with all of you. Covering so much land on my road trip, there is a good chance I will get my chance.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Wolfgang Wandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06509599761663692831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650191213511729850.post-44939540354066680872017-06-23T16:26:00.000-07:002017-06-25T20:33:34.190-07:00The Road Trip&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Many people get to go on vacations, relax and have fun but not many people get to truly explore. My name is Wolfgang and i'm going on the adventure of a life time, one of the longest road trips possible. When you turn 17 years old in Canada you can get your license and that's exactly what I did. I have a car, a backpack and a lot of motivation, that's all i need to drive from Vancouver, Canada all the way across two continents to Cape Horn, Chile, so I'm doing it. Feeling the freedom of the open road and making friends along the way I will get to experience parts of our world so many can't.<br /><br /><div><div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;I am not certain how much time i will spend, what I will do, or even the route I'm going to take, but I know I will learn. The years I have spent in the same place doing the same things I wouldn't say were wasted, I went to school and ran around with my friends, but different experiences are just that... different. If you do more, if you see more, you will know more, you will smile more. Follow me on my trip and lets share this experience.</div><div><br /></div><div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;It is so rare for people to do this, It's a long drive, and dare I say it, goes through countries some people are scared to go through. I know however I will be safe. People are inherently nice and I will meet so many. I love to meet and talk with new people, making friends is great and it really puts it into perspective coming from a town of a couple thousand people knowing that there is 7.5 billion people out there that i haven't met. That's what pushes me to do this, there are so many stories out there, I'm just one of them, I want to hear the rest.</div><div><br /></div><div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Not having so much money I will have to survive a lot off of the kindness of strangers, Well, these strangers won't be strangers afterwards. So many bloggers just won't get into there personal finance but I will. I have exactly $5,100 for this trip and that will do. It took me half of a year washing dishes at a pub to save it up but it was all worth it. I have a 1996 Cavalier that I fixed up as well and that cheap little red car will be my ride the entire way.This is not an expensive trip in any sense of the word; you could do this too!</div><div><br /></div><div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;This venture isn't just a driving lesson. I'm undergoing this to learn so much and to share it with the world. I will be traveling from Canada through America, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, and finally Argentina in that order; learning about their culture, history, environment, fashion, food, daily lives and so much more, no class could teach anyone these things.</div><div><br /></div><div>Come follow me on this journey!</div><div><br /></div><div><div><br /><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Wolfgang Wandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06509599761663692831noreply@blogger.com0